Thursday, May 19, 2005
REGGIE RETIRES!!!
The NBA finals ended tonight and Reggie Miller unfortunately will not receive the winning title he deserves. With 15 seconds left of the game Carlisle, coach of the Detroit Pistons, called a time out so fans could honor Reggie Miller with a standing ovation. It was an amazing moment. I don’t know if I got a tear in my eye just because I’m pregnant, or just because I know Reggie is an amazing player who deserved to win tonight. Although I didn’t get to see the whole game, I’m glad I was able to see Reggie Miller’s last moments on the court.
Friday, May 13, 2005
SCHOOL'S OVER!!!
Well, I just finished up my last final. It feels good to be done with another semester. Now, Cory and I have the rest of the summer to prepare for the baby to come. All in all, I think that this semester went pretty well. It was hard though, with being pregnant and having to go to school and work. But I managed. I have a whole paper full of things Cory and I have to do around the house this summer. So, we're going to keep ourselves pretty busy. I can' t wait until September comes around so that we'll have a new addition to our family.
Wednesday, April 27, 2005
Ultrasound Results
Editor's Note: We had previously included images of the ultrasound, but they are no longer available online since our webhosting was provided by ISU and we don't keep our computer account active over the summer. Should family and friends have missed the pictures we had posted, send us and email and we'll send them to you directly.
We've already told our immediate families, so this won't be anything new to most of our readers, but Angie had her first ultrasound Monday, 25 April 2005, and we found out that our baby boy is developing well and everything looks good.
We're having a BOY!
Angie will probably want to say more than I have, but I wanted to get the good word up on our blog!
We've already told our immediate families, so this won't be anything new to most of our readers, but Angie had her first ultrasound Monday, 25 April 2005, and we found out that our baby boy is developing well and everything looks good.
We're having a BOY!
Angie will probably want to say more than I have, but I wanted to get the good word up on our blog!
Tuesday, April 12, 2005
Doctor's appt. and the ULTRASOUND!!!
Well, I had another appointment today. Everything went well, as usual. We were able to hear the baby's heart beat again which sounded a little bit deeper. It was awesome. The shots I'm taking are going well. The nurse said that just because I get bruises doesn't mean I'm doing it wrong. It's expected. So I'm looking all black and blue from the waist down. I'll have to start letting Cory put the shots in my arms again. ARGH! I was even starting to get the hang of it with only a few times not bruising. The Doctor did verify that I'll have to take these shots for all my pregnancies. So, I guess we have something to look forward too later on. We scheduled an appointment for the ultrasound. It's going to be on May 12. So everyone should be expecting a phone call from me later that day. We're really excited to find out what it is. I can start buying baby clothes again. YEAH!! We don't really have a preference to what we want. We just can't wait to find out what it is. We do have a busy and hot summer ahead of us. But, at least we won't have to worry about school.
Saturday, April 09, 2005
Sheibenkleister Defined
Editor's Note: In order to conserve space on our webserver, I've removed the link to the audio file and adjusted the post text accordingly. (4/27/05 1:56 am)
Scheibenkleister doesn't really mean anything at all. If you break it down into the two words it's composed of, you get "sheets of glue." Of course, it sounds close enough to something else in German that the person hearing it generally gets the idea.
Scheibenkleister doesn't really mean anything at all. If you break it down into the two words it's composed of, you get "sheets of glue." Of course, it sounds close enough to something else in German that the person hearing it generally gets the idea.
Cory's Spot: Recipe: Crispy Potato Wedges
Editor's Note: There's really no graceful way to return from such a lengthy hiatus, so I'm simply going to continue on as if there were no break.
The other day I was craving French fries, but was too lazy to go out and get some, so I thought I'd try making my mom's cheesy potato logs. I couldn't find her recipe among those she's given me, though, and I couldn't get ahold of her, so I decided to turn to Google for help. Turns out there are lots of different recipes involving potato wedges and Parmesan cheese available online, so I printed a couple out and decided to improvise. When it came time to actually throw everything together, one recipe looked best, so I ended up following it almost exactly.
Here it is:
Since then, I haven't used the recipe at all and just throw in what looks to be a goodly amount of the same ingredients (with the occasional addition of garlic powder), but this is a good starting point. As always, I prefer to use fresh-ground pepper. Although I’ve found that it’s usually best to use actual grated Parmesan instead of the powdery stuff, the powdery stuff works best here. Go figure. I’ve also found it works best to make sure each piece of potato gets the seasonings on it and then to tap it on the edge of the mixing bowl to get rid of excess oil. There’s also no need to use a greased baking sheet – the oil provides plenty of grease! Finally, I like to blot the potatoes off on paper towels before serving with ketchup. Believe it or not, I’m also something of a ketchup snob – Hunt’s is the best, in case you were wondering.
The other day I was craving French fries, but was too lazy to go out and get some, so I thought I'd try making my mom's cheesy potato logs. I couldn't find her recipe among those she's given me, though, and I couldn't get ahold of her, so I decided to turn to Google for help. Turns out there are lots of different recipes involving potato wedges and Parmesan cheese available online, so I printed a couple out and decided to improvise. When it came time to actually throw everything together, one recipe looked best, so I ended up following it almost exactly.
Here it is:
Crispy Potato Wedges¼ c. olive oil
½ tsp. salt
¼ tsp. black pepper
½ tsp. each dried basil, thyme, and oregano
¼ tsp. paprika
4-6 med. potatoes
¼-½ c. grated Parmesan cheese
- Combine olive oil and seasonings in a bowl. Scrub unpeeled potatoes well. Cut each potato in half lengthwise, then in thirds.
- Coat each slice in the seasoned oil. Spread in a single layer on a greased baking sheet.
- Bake at 450° for 15 minutes. Sprinkle with the cheese. Bake 15 minutes longer.
Since then, I haven't used the recipe at all and just throw in what looks to be a goodly amount of the same ingredients (with the occasional addition of garlic powder), but this is a good starting point. As always, I prefer to use fresh-ground pepper. Although I’ve found that it’s usually best to use actual grated Parmesan instead of the powdery stuff, the powdery stuff works best here. Go figure. I’ve also found it works best to make sure each piece of potato gets the seasonings on it and then to tap it on the edge of the mixing bowl to get rid of excess oil. There’s also no need to use a greased baking sheet – the oil provides plenty of grease! Finally, I like to blot the potatoes off on paper towels before serving with ketchup. Believe it or not, I’m also something of a ketchup snob – Hunt’s is the best, in case you were wondering.
Friday, April 08, 2005
Baby Speaks!
Here's an .mp3 of the baby's heartbeat. We took a digital voice recorder to the doctor's office and recorded the sounds of the heartbeat from the doppler. I have to say, it was really exciting to hear that! Angie's been feeling the effects of the baby for a couple of months now, but this was the first time I got some evidence of it (other than Angie's hormone swings)!
Angie wants everybody to know, she's now 16 weeks along!
Angie wants everybody to know, she's now 16 weeks along!
Thursday, April 07, 2005
The Cutest Couple. Ever.
Since we can't post pictures of our cute kids yet, we decided to post one of ourselves.
Friday, December 17, 2004
Cory's Spot: The Post This Should Have Been
Editor's Note: This post has become a little exercise in revisionist history - the way it originally appeared was just embarassing since it promised I'd soon return to blogging, which obviously didn't happen. What follows would have been a more accurate statement to make at that time. 4/6/05 8:44pm
I just finished my last final and school is out for the semester! Now if we could just accumulate a bit more snow, I'd love to make it out snowboarding over the break!
Not that I've been a terribly prolific blogger since the inception of Cory's Spot, but I feel a lengthier break coming on. Don't hold your collective breaths or anything, but I'll return sometime.
I just finished my last final and school is out for the semester! Now if we could just accumulate a bit more snow, I'd love to make it out snowboarding over the break!
Not that I've been a terribly prolific blogger since the inception of Cory's Spot, but I feel a lengthier break coming on. Don't hold your collective breaths or anything, but I'll return sometime.
Thursday, December 02, 2004
Cory's Spot: TiVo
If you haven't heard about TiVo specifically or DVR in general, I'm sorry to say, but you're dreadfully behind the times. TiVo is a specific brand of DVR, or digital video recorder, also known as PVR, or personal video recorder, which essentially take the place of a VCR for recording programming from your TV provider and is available for use with anthing from an off-air antenna to cable to satellite.
Since I sold my soul to Convergys some time in the past and work as a customer service representative for DirecTV in their customer installation support department, I've been selling their integrated DirecTV receiver/TiVo units to people for quite some time now, and I'd begun to drool quite heavily over the technology. Well, I finally got my satellite dish installed and activated my service and, liking that, decided to take the next step and purchase one of the basic 40GB models, which allows for up to 35 hours of recording and actually records the digital stream straight from the satellite.
I have to say, I'm in love. Working full time and taking full-time credits at the university (I won't say I'm going to school full-time, because that just wouldn't be true), I had a hard time finding something to watch when I had time, even with 200+ channels to choose from. With my TiVo, I set my favorite shows to record every time they're on and set movies and other shows to record if I think my wife or I will be interested in them, either individually or together. Not only am I catching up on past episodes of Angel, Stargate: SG-1 and Stargate: Atlantis, but my wife gets to watch Queer Eye for the Straight Guy and we've been watching some movies we'd missed in the past or that we simply hadn't seen in some time, and this without happening to catch the show at the right time and happening to have the time the watch the show all the way through.
A couple of other features that are extremely cool are the ability to pause live TV (for up to 30 minutes) and to rewind back through the past 30 minutes of the show you're watching live, as well as the ability to start watching a show you're recording from the beginning while it continues recording through to the end, even if you start watching after it's already started (as opposed to having to wait until it's over to watch it like you do with a VCR, or even the DVR software I have on my computer). I can also record up to two shows at once, and can even watch a previously recorded show while I'm doing that. I'm telling you, the flexibility is great!
The one thing I wish I'd done differently is spend a bit more and get a unit with a larger hard drive. 35 hours is fine for a couple of first-run shows and a movie or two, but following three different series, one of which is entirely in syndication right now and the other two I've missed a lot of earlier episodes, I find that I sometimes have to watch more than I'd like to in order to not fall behind or run out of space. It's created a sick sort of addiction to TV that's at an entirely different level than I've experienced before. A larger hard drive would simply allow me to build up more of a backlog and then watch when I really have time.
Personally, I think the DirecTV DVR with TiVo is a great unit, especially if you subscribe to DirecTV (and if you're willing to pay for television, DirecTV seems to be pretty much the best option, corporate loyalty aside). Even without DirecTV service though, TiVo sells standalone units that work with pretty much any provider, or other cable and satellite providers have their own units available for sale or rental. One thing the standalone TiVo units support that I wish were available on the DirecTV models is in-home networking to share recordings between a couple of different units (so you can record a show on a TiVo unit in one room and watch in on a TiVo in another room, as opposed to having to record it on each with the DirecTV models if you want to be able to watch it in either location. I believe it's also possible to upload recordings from the standalone units to a PC to watch there or to burn to DVD, but I'm not sure. Of course that kind of functionality can be hacked into the DirecTV units (using the native Lynix OS), but I'm not quite ready to void my warranty.
In any case, I'd best be getting back to that annoying school thing. Oh, and then to watching more TiVo.
Since I sold my soul to Convergys some time in the past and work as a customer service representative for DirecTV in their customer installation support department, I've been selling their integrated DirecTV receiver/TiVo units to people for quite some time now, and I'd begun to drool quite heavily over the technology. Well, I finally got my satellite dish installed and activated my service and, liking that, decided to take the next step and purchase one of the basic 40GB models, which allows for up to 35 hours of recording and actually records the digital stream straight from the satellite.
I have to say, I'm in love. Working full time and taking full-time credits at the university (I won't say I'm going to school full-time, because that just wouldn't be true), I had a hard time finding something to watch when I had time, even with 200+ channels to choose from. With my TiVo, I set my favorite shows to record every time they're on and set movies and other shows to record if I think my wife or I will be interested in them, either individually or together. Not only am I catching up on past episodes of Angel, Stargate: SG-1 and Stargate: Atlantis, but my wife gets to watch Queer Eye for the Straight Guy and we've been watching some movies we'd missed in the past or that we simply hadn't seen in some time, and this without happening to catch the show at the right time and happening to have the time the watch the show all the way through.
A couple of other features that are extremely cool are the ability to pause live TV (for up to 30 minutes) and to rewind back through the past 30 minutes of the show you're watching live, as well as the ability to start watching a show you're recording from the beginning while it continues recording through to the end, even if you start watching after it's already started (as opposed to having to wait until it's over to watch it like you do with a VCR, or even the DVR software I have on my computer). I can also record up to two shows at once, and can even watch a previously recorded show while I'm doing that. I'm telling you, the flexibility is great!
The one thing I wish I'd done differently is spend a bit more and get a unit with a larger hard drive. 35 hours is fine for a couple of first-run shows and a movie or two, but following three different series, one of which is entirely in syndication right now and the other two I've missed a lot of earlier episodes, I find that I sometimes have to watch more than I'd like to in order to not fall behind or run out of space. It's created a sick sort of addiction to TV that's at an entirely different level than I've experienced before. A larger hard drive would simply allow me to build up more of a backlog and then watch when I really have time.
Personally, I think the DirecTV DVR with TiVo is a great unit, especially if you subscribe to DirecTV (and if you're willing to pay for television, DirecTV seems to be pretty much the best option, corporate loyalty aside). Even without DirecTV service though, TiVo sells standalone units that work with pretty much any provider, or other cable and satellite providers have their own units available for sale or rental. One thing the standalone TiVo units support that I wish were available on the DirecTV models is in-home networking to share recordings between a couple of different units (so you can record a show on a TiVo unit in one room and watch in on a TiVo in another room, as opposed to having to record it on each with the DirecTV models if you want to be able to watch it in either location. I believe it's also possible to upload recordings from the standalone units to a PC to watch there or to burn to DVD, but I'm not sure. Of course that kind of functionality can be hacked into the DirecTV units (using the native Lynix OS), but I'm not quite ready to void my warranty.
In any case, I'd best be getting back to that annoying school thing. Oh, and then to watching more TiVo.
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